{"id":7130,"date":"2017-10-03T18:50:39","date_gmt":"2017-10-03T23:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?p=7130"},"modified":"2017-10-03T18:50:39","modified_gmt":"2017-10-03T23:50:39","slug":"the-case-for-the-beatles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/the-case-for-the-beatles\/","title":{"rendered":"The Case for The Beatles"},"content":{"rendered":"

My bestie, author Lanea Stagg, and I came up with a \u201cscathingly brilliant idea\u201d (as Hayley Mills was so fond of saying in the 1963 film, Summer Magic<\/em>): we\u2019d pair up and conduct a series of debates on the topic of \u201cBeatles vs. Stones.\u201d I, of course, volunteered to take the case of my lads from Liddypool, The Beatles. And Lanea, since she\u2019s just released a hot, new book on The Stones \u2013 The Rolling Scones: Let\u2019s Spend the Bite Together<\/em> \u2013 agreed to rep Mick, Keith, et al<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The debates begin in two short weeks, so I thought I\u2019d enlist the aid of my Beatles Family in reviewing my \u201cCase for The Beatles.\u201d No group of people is better equipped to say \u201cyea\u201d or \u201cnay\u201d to my assembled evidence. Lanea and I will compare the two bands in several strategic categories. Here are a few of them:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Accomplishments <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Without breaking a sweat (or even batting a mascaraed eye), I was able to list two full pages of Beatles accomplishments. (To see them all, I\u2019ve pinned them to the top of my Facebook page for you from Sept. 25-Oct. 15.) No other group in history reached the unfathomable heights that John, Paul, George, and Ringo did. They created the concept of stadium concerts (via their Shea appearance). They were the first rock\u2019n\u2019roll group allowed to perform at Carnegie Hall. Of their 18 singles, 17 went to #1. They won 10 GRAMMY awards and are listed as \u201cthe one group who most influenced other bands of the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and today.\u201d The full list of their stellar achievements will be pinned to the top of my \u201cJude Southerland Kessler\u2019s John Lennon Series\u201d Facebook page from Sept. 25-Oct. 15. Stop by and marvel. Your boys\u2019 accomplishments are unequaled.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Childhoods\/Backgrounds<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n

      The Beatles achieved \u201cin spite of.\u201d Indeed, their successes are far greater than they first seem<\/em> when you realize the obstacles they had to overcome.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      In the late 1950\u2019s\/early 1960\u2019s, Liverpool was ridiculed, snubbed, and generally looked down upon. The London music moguls of that day thought nothing good could come from Liverpool<\/em>\u2026well, except comedians like Jimmy Tarbuck and Max Miller. Certainly, no respectable singer\/songwriters ever hailed from the bitterly cold, industrial, and \u201cyobbish\u201d North. And yet, The Beatles did. Proudly decked in Scouse humor and accents, the four Liverpool boys stepped boldly onto the cosmopolitan music scene where middle-class, London-born singers such as The Rolling Stones claimed birthright. And despite their meagre, Northern beginnings, The Beatles found a way to fit in. No, they found a way to triumph. That in itself was jaw-dropping enough to make the critics sit up and take notice: \u201cFrom Liverpool? Indeed!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Furthermore, three of the four Beatles were Irish\u2026another hindrance to fame. In England of the early Sixties, being Irish was not <\/strong>a calling card. In fact, it bore a stigma that only John, Paul, George, and Ringo could erase.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Motivation for Becoming Rock Stars<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

         <\/p>\n

        The Stones, as we all know, dug blues. Passionately, they wanted to bring that raw, unpolished, edgy sound into mainstream music. And they achieved that goal. Furthermore, to their credit, they were able (with various personnel changes along the way) to keep their band together for 50 some-odd years. Amazing! But their reasons for reaching for stardom were artistic and altruistic while The Beatles (John, really) HAD to get to the \u201ctoppermost of the poppermost\u201d to exist, to carry on. To John, music was life<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Ninety-per cent of you are nodding at this point. You know that myriad tragedies in John\u2019s childhood and teen years rocked his world. When his mother, Julia, surrendered John to his Uncle George and Aunt Mimi to raise (for complicated reasons), John\u2019s spirit was lacerated. And hardly had it healed before John discovered that his mother had two other children \u2013 precious little girls named Jacqui and Julia \u2013 whom she gladly kept with her. In other words, it wasn\u2019t children that his mother didn\u2019t want. It was, he reasoned, just him. After that dark revelation, John\u2019s wounds refused to heal. Other losses followed quickly, crushing John in a way that few humans have ever been crushed. When at age 14, his beloved Uncle George died, John fell into hysteria. And, by the time his mother was brutally killed, sixteen-year-old John felt completely alone; he felt deserted and left behind.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Irrationally, John longed for revenge. He ached to become rich, famous, and powerful so that he could prove to everyone who had shunned him and \u201cabandoned him\u201d that he WAS good enough, smart enough, and valuable enough to be loved. He wanted to \u201cshow\u201d Mimi how wrong she was for throwing away his childhood drawings instead of treasuring them, as other mothers did. He wanted to \u201cshow\u201d Julia that she shoulda been there for him all along, as it were. He wanted to demonstrate to the world that despite the \u201cchip on [his] shoulder that [was] bigger than [his] feet,\u201d he was a genius. John had to prove that he mattered.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        THAT was the motivation that propelled his group to fame. It was a life\u2019s obsession, a core need<\/em> that would let nothing stand in its way. No other band was so deeply motivated.<\/strong> No other band would put up with anything, sacrifice anything, work unceasingly, and even surrender self<\/em> to grasp the brass ring. But The Beatles would\u2026and they did.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Music<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Certainly, it\u2019s difficult to deny the gutsy appeal of The Stones. Nothing gets you out of your seat like \u201c(I Can\u2019t Get No) Satisfaction.\u201d And yes, \u201cJumpin\u2019 Jack Flash\u201d is <\/em>a gas-gas-gas! But, on the other hand, who can resist the irreverent \u201cRevolution\u201d or the poignancy of \u201cYesterday\u201d? Who can deny the mad power of \u201cHelter Skelter,\u201d the breathtaking harmonies of \u201cThis Boy\u201d and \u201cYes, It Is\u201d? Who could but stand in awe at the diversity found in \u201cI Don\u2019t Want to Spoil the Party\u201d (country) vs. \u201cWithin You, Without You\u201d (world music) vs. \u201cWhen I\u2019m 64\u201d (vaudeville) vs. \u201cShe Said She Said\u201d (psychedelia) vs. \u201cIn My Life\u201d (romantic ballad) vs \u201cI\u2019m Down\u201d (rock\u2019n\u2019roll). The Beatles can hold their own in any genre! With 20 Number Ones to their name, The Fab Four (who were only together from 1962 when Ringo joined them until 1970) have a repertoire gathers no moss\u2026if you know what I mean<\/em>. To achieve musical prowess, they left no stone unturned. Ahem!<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          By the time you read this blog, our \u201cgrand debate\u201d will be over. But it\u2019s my prediction that The Beatles (not me, The Beatles) will do what they have always done\u2026blow the doors off! Winning an Academy Award for their first film \u2013 when they had NO experience in making movies \u2013 surprised every cynical critic in Hollywood. John\u2019s well-deserved Foyles Literary Award for his first book, In His Own Write<\/em>, was another amazing coup,<\/em> well out of John\u2019s wheelhouse. \u00a0But The Beatles always did whatever it took<\/em><\/strong> to be the very best!<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          In fact, to summarize, in the words of author Lanea Stagg of Recipe Records: A Culinary Tribute to The Beatles<\/em>, \u201cThe Beatles were the sweetest thing to happen to the 60\u2019s and\u2026they continue to sweeten, soften, and lead music today. No other band has impacted music as much as The Beatles<\/em>, nor left such an impressive legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          And there, Beatles Family, I rest my case.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          To find out more about Lanea Stagg, go to http:\/\/www.laneastagg.com<\/a><\/p>\n

          \n

          Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series:\u00a0www.johnlennonseries.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

          \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

          Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations —\u00a0@910PubRel<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter and\u00a0910 Public Relations<\/a>\u00a0on Facebook.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          My bestie, author Lanea Stagg, and I came up with a \u201cscathingly brilliant idea\u201d (as Hayley Mills was so fond of saying in the 1963 film, Summer Magic): we\u2019d pair up and conduct a series of debates on the topic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":7131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[98,127,117],"class_list":["post-7130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baby-boomer-beatles-blog","tag-jude-southerland-kessler","tag-lanea-stagg","tag-the-beatles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7132,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7130\/revisions\/7132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}